Mike Yastrzemski was not teammates with Rafael Devers for long, but he knows exactly what kind of person and player the slugger is.
The former Giants outfielder joined “Foul Territory” on Monday and was asked what it was like playing with Devers, whose Boston Red Sox tenure ended in controversy, for nearly two months before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals on July 31, before the MLB trade deadline.
“He was the best man. Awesome teammate … I think he just got thrown into a weird circumstance,” Yastrzemski told A.J. Pierzynski. “Sometimes as players you have to stick up for yourself and I think that’s what he tried to do. And I think the wording of it was delivered poorly. Because he’s an awesome teammate.”
“He works his tail off. He tries to help everybody. If you’re facing a guy that he’s faced and you haven’t faced him, full scouting report … He’s really smart and he cares about winning so much. So, I don’t understand where all the heat came from.”
Devers left Boston on a sour note after he reportedly refused to play first base after the team already transitioned him from third base to designated hitter when they signed Alex Bregman in the offseason.
He began his Giants tenure as the team’s designated hitter while nursing a minor groin injury before eventually debuting at first base for San Francisco on July 22, and in the weeks since the move, appears to have taken kindly to the transition.
Although his short stint with the Giants has not gone the way he or the team expected after the blockbuster trade in June, there is no denying how impactful Devers can be for San Francisco moving forward.
As Yastrzemski can attest to.
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